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Led by London Olympics bronze medallist Saina Nehwal, India will be fielding its strongest ever squad at the 2013 BWF World Championship to be played in Gungzhou, China from August 5-11.

India will be fielding its strongest ever squad at the World Badminton Championships in Guangzhou Aug 5-11 with an aim to bring home at least one medal.

Women’s doubles combination of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa had ended India’s 28-year-old medal drought at the world meet by winning the bronze in 2011. They will not be seen in action as a pair in China, all eyes will be on World No.3 Saina Nehwal to record her maiden podium finish in the championships.

“Saina is obviously our best bet at the World Championship. This will be the first time that India would have two representatives in each of the five categories and that is proof of how well our players are performing at the international circuit," said Badminton Association of India (BAI) president Akhilesh Das Gupta.

KUALA LUMPUR: Independent men’s singles shuttler Mohd Arif Abdul Latif signed a sponsorship deal with badminton equipment company Fleet yesterday and is ready to show the world that he can be fleet of foot as well.

The world No. 32 and country’s fourth ranked shuttler, who left the Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) last month in a bid to rejuvenate his flagging career, said the sponsorship deal has motivated him to qualify for his first World Championships after missing this year’s by the skin of his teeth.

He’s also the first reserve for the world meet in Guangzhou from Aug 5-11. But luck is not on his side as no player has withdrawn.

“This is a fresh start for me. There was intense pressure on me in the national team (under BAM) and I could not perform. Now, I’m highly motivated to achieve several firsts in my career,” Arif said after inking the sponsorship deal with Fleet yesterday.

KUALA LUMPUR: Many have ruled out Malaysia’s chances of glory in the men’s doubles event at the World Championships, which will be held in Guangzhou from Aug 5-11.

But former ace Lee Wan Wah begs to differ.

The Malaysian men’s doubles pairs are not really red-hot favourites but they have, he said, come close four times in the last 26 years of the world meet.

And that’s why he feels there is a chance, however slim, that one of these four pairs – Koo Kien Keat-Tan Boon Heong, Hoon Thien How-Tan Wee Kiong, Lim Khim Wah-Goh V Shem and Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari-Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif – could end Malaysia’s wait for the elusive world title at the 20th edition in Guangzhou.

Kien Keat-Boon Heong are one of the four Malaysian pairs to have reached the final in the world meet. They made it to the final in 2010 but let victory slip through their hands when Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng of China came from behind to seal the title in Paris.

KUALA LUMPUR: Another former international – Lee Wan Wah – is ready to do his bit to support the efforts of new Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) president Tengku Tan Sri Mahaleel Tengku Ariff to revive the national body.

Wan Wah, who briefly held the world No. 1 ranking with Choong Tan Fook in 2004, said yesterday that former national shuttlers were keen to help out if their services were needed by Tengku Mahaleel.

“I’ll think about it if BAM want our services. Some of us have not been out of the game for a long time ... but we can contribute,” said Wan Wah.

Rivalry (noun) – competition for the same objective or for superiority in the same field

Nemesis (noun) – the inescapable or implacable agent of someone’s or something’s downfall

A sporting rivalry occupies a unique place in the minds of sports fans. It gives an added edge to the contest and provides a story within a story in the context of the game’s end result.

A rivalry in an individual sport is all the more special; there’s one and only one person around whom the entire show revolves. There are no teammates around, no different positions, no main actor or side actors. The man/woman at the centre of proceedings receives the highest accolade in victory and the most exasperated gasps in defeat.

Lee Chong Wei and Lin Dan bring that special intensity to a badminton match. Just as when Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal line up across the net to each other in the final of a Grand Slam, like when Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier went head to head in their heydays.